Cadillac ATS General Discussion Forum Discussion, New to the ATS. manual vs auto in Cadillac ATS Discussion Forums; 2 to 3 seconds to get your foot fully off the clutch from a standstill is fine. I think people ...

Re: New to the ATS. manual vs auto

2 to 3 seconds to get your foot fully off the clutch from a standstill is fine. I think people underestimate how long it actually takes to do it smoothly.

The question is, how many revs are you using to start? On flat ground, you can crawl away at just the idle speed. I usually use about 1000rpm to get going from a standstill. The more revs you use, the quicker you'll wear out your clutch.

I would recommend going to a flat parking lot and practice standstill starts without using the accelerator.

Re: New to the ATS. manual vs auto

thanks for all the tips and feedback guys. one thing that kind of surprised me was dont keep ur hand on the shifter.....that shifter is the BEST and most comfortable place to put my hand....and unfortunately there must be a reason that i cant put my hand there anymore.. thats unfortunate. im gonna keep practicing this though. until im an excellent driver. and yes giving up the acura was dumb and i really liked it too. but whoever called me an impatient young whipper snapper hit the nail on the head. thats pretty much exactly what i am with this whole lease.

Re: New to the ATS. manual vs auto

Originally Posted by donavo

thanks for all the tips and feedback guys. one thing that kind of surprised me was dont keep ur hand on the shifter.....that shifter is the BEST and most comfortable place to put my hand....and unfortunately there must be a reason that i cant put my hand there anymore.. thats unfortunate. im gonna keep practicing this though. until im an excellent driver. and yes giving up the acura was dumb and i really liked it too. but whoever called me an impatient young whipper snapper hit the nail on the head. thats pretty much exactly what i am with this whole lease.

There's left brain dumb and right brain dumb. I'm betting you will come to love the ATS for its 50-50 weight distribution, RWD and, yes, the manual transmission. It may have cost one side of your brain (and wallet) but the other will thank you.

Re: New to the ATS. manual vs auto

Originally Posted by donavo

one thing that kind of surprised me was dont keep ur hand on the shifter.....that shifter is the BEST and most comfortable place to put my hand....and unfortunately there must be a reason that i cant put my hand there anymore .

By resting your hand on the shifter you can wear out the synchros.

Many people don't use this simple little trick developed long ago, but if you keep both hands on the steering wheel, you won't have to worry about hurting your trans.

Re: New to the ATS. manual vs auto

I've also had people tell me that I shouldn't keep my hand on the shifter because it will wear out the synchros. All I know is that my 15-year-old Miata, which I drive with my hand on the sweet shifter nearly continuously, has perfectly fine synchros after all of these years. (The paint is another story...) My 8-year-old TSX also still has perfectly healthy synchros. Previously, I sold a 10-year-old Honda CRX and a 12-year-old Honda Accord that never needed powertrain work while I owned them. I can accept that, in theory, keeping your hand on the shifter all of the time might cause some additional wear, but it seems to me that it's hard to see any damage show up in practice. If, like me, you really enjoy driving with your hand on the shifter, I wouldn't let the fear of synchro wear stop you. Life's too short to worry about little things like this. What you should worry about is blowing money on things you don't need, namely an ATS when you have a prefectly good car still under lease. It's often hard to fight off the urge to buy a new toy, I know, but you can afford a lot more toys in the long term if you are wise with your money.

Re: New to the ATS. manual vs auto

One should always keep both hands on the wheel whenever possible, such as when NOT shifting. The steering control is much better with two hands. It has to do with leverage; one has much more leverage when pulling down on the wheel than when pushing up on it, as one would do with a right turn with the right hand on the shifter. As an instructor for high performance driving schools for both the BMW Club and Porsche Club, we were taught to instruct our students to keep both hands on the wheel, and even to slap the lazy hand on the shifter, to break them of this bad habit. One can move their hand to the shifter in minimal time, so it won't slow shifting any, and one's car control will be maintained until the actual moment of the shift. This is taught at all high performance and racing schools. The effect of the hand on the shifter for the transmission is debatable, but the effect on car control is not.

Re: New to the ATS. manual vs auto

Originally Posted by donavo

thanks for all the tips and feedback guys. one thing that kind of surprised me was dont keep ur hand on the shifter.....that shifter is the BEST and most comfortable place to put my hand....and unfortunately there must be a reason that i cant put my hand there anymore.. thats unfortunate.

Originally Posted by bdwalters

I've also had people tell me that I shouldn't keep my hand on the shifter because it will wear out the synchros. All I know is that my 15-year-old Miata, which I drive with my hand on the sweet shifter nearly continuously, has perfectly fine synchros after all of these years. (The paint is another story...) My 8-year-old TSX also still has perfectly healthy synchros. Previously, I sold a 10-year-old Honda CRX and a 12-year-old Honda Accord that never needed powertrain work while I owned them.

The syncros aren't affected by a hand on the shifter UNLESS the hand moves the shifter enough to start to move the gearset against the synchros. For most manual transmissions that would take a movement of the shifter the driver could notice unless distracted by bumps, cornering, braking or accelerating. So someone COULD keep their hand on the shifter all the time and not make the syncros wear out before something else does. I don't think its worth the risk even if it might be slight with a particular transmission and driving conditions.

And as pointed out, if safety matters, you won't have a free hand to rest on the shifter anyway.

Re: New to the ATS. manual vs auto

great advice from everyone, but unfortunately, im not the guy that has both hands on the steering wheel. i drive with one hand just fine. ive never had any problem with maneuverability since im not retarded, nor am i driving ferociously on a track. if i was on a track, i can see justification in using both hands to steer, but cruising around town, im more than capable of handling the steering with one hand. regardless of transmission type lol. im not saying that cuz i intend to keep my hand on the shift knob.